Here were the pros and cons of MSE according to Maximum PC
Pros
- 10 second install time
- sailed through synthetic spyware and malware tests
- thwarted attempts to inflict damage with genuine payloads
Cons
- Slow scanning speeds with no improvement in subsequent scans
- Power users don't have much fine grain control over settings
- No ability to increase detection during a known scare or drop it if it hits false positives
The maximum PC test of Avira looked at their free product only
Pros
- Basic spyware protection
- Fast initial scans and even faster subsequent scans.
Cons
- When using a known trojan with genuine payload, it failed to stop it, the virus disabled UAC, knocked out access to Task manager, and blocked AntiVir from running scans